**From the #1 *New York Times* bestselling author of *A Man Called Ove* and "writer of astonishing depth" ( *The Washington Times* ) comes a poignant comedy about a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined.**

Viewing an apartment normally doesn't turn into a life-or-death situation, but this particular open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes everyone in the apartment hostage. As the pressure mounts, the eight strangers slowly begin opening up to one another and reveal long-hidden truths.

First is Zara, a wealthy bank director who has been too busy to care about anyone else until tragedy changed her life. Now, she's obsessed with visiting open houses to see how ordinary people live--and, perhaps, to set an old wrong to right. Then there's Roger and Anna-Lena, an Ikea-addicted...

Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants has become one of the most beloved and bestselling novels of our time. Now Gruen has moved from a circus elephant to family of bonobo apes. When the apes are kidnapped from a language laboratory, their mysterious appearance on a reality TV show calls into question our assumptions about these animals who share 99.4% of our DNA.A devoted animal lover, Gruen has had a life-long fascination with human-ape discourse, and a particular interest in Bonobo apes, who share 99.4% of our DNA. She has studied linguistics and a system of lexigrams in order to communicate with apes, and is one of the few visitors who has been allowed access to the Great Ape Trust in Des Moines, Iowa, where the apes have come to love her. In bringing her experience and research to bear on this novel, she opens the animal world to us as few novelists have done.Ape House is a riveting, funny, compassionate, and, finally, deeply moving new novel that secures Sara Gruen's place as a master storyteller who allows us to see ourselves as we never have before.

From the MacArthur and Whiting Award — winning author of John Henry Days and The Intuitionist comes a new, brisk, comic tour de force about identity,history, and the adhesive bandage industry.When the citizens of Winthrop needed a new name for their town, they did what anyone would do — they hired a consultant. The protagonist of Apex Hides the Hurt is a nomenclature consultant. If you want just the right name for your new product, whether it be automobile or antidepressant, sneaker or spoon, he’s the man to get the job done. Wardrobe lack pizzazz? Come to the Outfit Outlet. Always the wallflower at social gatherings? Try Loquacia. And of course, whenever you take a fall, reach for Apex, because Apex Hides the Hurt. Apex is his crowning achievement, the multicultural bandage that has revolutionized the adhesive bandage industry. “Flesh-colored” be damned — no matter what your skin tone is — Apex will match it, or your money back.After leaving his job (following a mysterious misfortune), his expertise is called upon by the town of Winthrop. Once there, he meets the town council, who will try to sway his opinion over the coming days. Lucky Aberdeen, the millionaire software pioneer and hometown-boy-made-good, wants the name changed to something that will reflect the town’s capitalist aspirations, attracting new businesses and revitalizing the community. Who could argue with that? Albie Winthrop, beloved son of the town’s aristocracy, thinks Winthrop is a perfectly good name, and can’t imagine what the fuss is about. Regina Goode, the mayor, is a descendent of the black settlers who founded the town, and has her own secret agenda for what the name should be. Our expert must decide the outcome, with all its implications for the town’s future. Which name will he choose? Or perhaps he will devise his own? And what’s with his limp, anyway?Apex Hides the Hurt brilliantly and wryly satirizes our contemporary culture, where memory and history are subsumed by the tides of marketing.

Laure Mi Hyun Croset est une écrivaine suisse née en 1973 à Séoul.Après la pluie, le beau temps — 7 petits contes d'aujourd'hui, tous inspires par des proverbes de la langue francaise, pour parler des relations humaines et de la difficulte a etre ensemble.Autour d'un the, d'un cafe ou d'une flute de champagne, les personnages jouent avec le mensonge et avec le feu...

«Klüssendorfs Mädchen ist eine Heldin unserer Zeit» (Die Zeit) — und nun wird es erwachsen.Die Kindheit ist vorüber, aber erlöst ist das Mädchen deshalb noch lange nicht. Nach ihrem hochgelobten Roman» Das Mädchen «schreibt Angelika Klüssendorf die Geschichte ihrer jungen Heldin fort. Ihr Weg führt aus einer Jugend ohne Jugend in ein eigenes Leben — das den Umständen abgetrotzt werden muss.Am Anfang stehen ein Koffer mit ihren spärlichen Habseligkeiten und ein Zimmer zur Untermiete. Das Mädchen, das sich mittlerweile April nennt — nach dem Song von Deep Purple —  hat die Zeit im Heim hinter sich, die Ausbildung abgebrochen und eine Arbeit als Bürohilfskraft zugewiesen bekommen. Zwischen alten Freunden und neuen Bekannten versucht sie sich im Leipzig der späten 70er-Jahre zurechtzufinden, stößt dabei oft an ihre eigenen Grenzen und überschreitet lustvoll alle, die ihr gesetzt werden, am Ende mit ihrer Ausreise auch die zwischen den beiden Deutschlands. Aber jedem Ausbruch folgt ein Rückfall, jedem Glücksmoment eine Zerstörung, jedem Rausch die Ernüchterung. Und immer ist da die Frage nach den Kindheitsmustern, der Prägung durch die verantwortungslose Mutter und den alkoholkranken Vater.Angelika Klüssendorf ist ein weiteres Meisterwerk gelungen. Ohne Pathos, nüchtern und souverän erzählt sie von einem Weg aus der scheinbar ausweglosen Vergangenheit — mit psychologischem Feingefühl und klarem Blick für die gesellschaftlichen Zustände. Es entsteht ein Doppeltes: ein erschütternder Adoleszenzroman und ein nüchternes Porträt der sozialen Zustände im untergegangenen real existierenden Sozialismus — und im West-Berlin der frühen 80er-Jahre.

Современный человек даже не предполагает, что в его жизни могут произойти какие-то экстраординарные события. Он едет в отпуск, не подозревая, что буквально за стеклом его авиалайнера могут скрываться вселенские тайны. И уж точно не допускает мысли, что сам может стать участником захватывающего приключения. Роман "Aprositus" - это водоворот событий с первой до последней страницы, это хитроумная головоломка, разгадывать которую вы будете вместе с главными героями, это таинственная легенда, волнующая пытливые умы вот уже более пятисот лет и обретающая в романе неожиданное объяснение! И конечно, это увлекательный путеводитель по Тенерифе, после прочтения которого вам очень захочется отправиться на Канарские острова!

Современный человек даже не предполагает, что в его жизни могут произойти какие-то экстраординарные события. Он едет в отпуск, не подозревая, что буквально за стеклом его авиалайнера могут скрываться вселенские тайны. И уж точно не допускает мысли, что сам может стать участником захватывающего приключения.Роман «Aprositus» — это водоворот событий с первой до последней страницы, это хитроумная головоломка, разгадывать которую вы будете вместе с главными героями, это таинственная легенда, волнующая пытливые умы вот уже более пятисот лет и обретающая в романе неожиданное объяснение! И конечно, это увлекательный путеводитель по Тенерифе, после прочтения которого вам очень захочется отправиться на Канарские острова!

Twelve-year-old Caitlin lives alone with her mother — a docker at the local container port — in subsidized housing next to an airport in Seattle. Each day, while she waits to be picked up after school, Caitlin visits the local aquarium to study the fish. Gazing at the creatures within the watery depths, Caitlin accesses a shimmering universe beyond her own. When she befriends an old man at the tanks one day, who seems as enamored of the fish as she, Caitlin cracks open a dark family secret and propels her once-blissful relationship with her mother toward a precipice of terrifying consequence.

Po avarijos Ana Volš fiziškai sužalota ir emociškai palūžusi. Ji guli ant sofos savo tėvų namuose Dubline, o jos galvoje sukasi tik viena mintis: greičiau sugrįžti į Niujorką. Niujorkas jai – ten likę geriausi draugai, pats nuostabiausias darbas pasaulyje ir, žinoma, jos vyras Aidanas.

Bet Anos gyvenimas nebebus toks, koks iki šiol... Negana to, kad jos grįžimą į Manhataną komplikuoja fiziniai ir emociniai randai, dar pasirodo, kad ir Aidano rasti neįmanoma...

Anai jau atėjo laikas susiimti ir kabintis į gyvenimą! Ar įmanoma tai padaryti? Margas keistuolių pulkas, pribloškiantis ir netikėtas atradimas, du gimimai ir vienerios labai keistos vestuvės galbūt ir padės Anai gauti keletą atsakymų bei visiems laikams pakeisti gyvenimą.

„Ar ten kas nors yra?“ – be galo jautrus ir nuoširdus, prisodrintas humoro naujausias M. Keyes romanas.

Completando una especie de tríptico ¿involuntario? junto con La torre vigía (1971, disponible en la actualidad en Lumen) y la magistral e incomprendida en el fandom Olvidado rey Gudú (1997, Espasa), esta Aranmanoth es, más que una novela, una suerte de cuento largo, en el sentido en que a Matute le encantaría que hablásemos de lo que es un cuento. Asumiendo todas las coordenadas del cuento de hadas (la maldición nacida de lo prohibido, la fuga y la persecución, la presencia de la infancia incomprendida, la búsqueda del amor imposible, la aparición de seres de leyenda y los hijos habidos entre éstos y los hombres, la guerra y la crueldad, el paisaje indómito y la ambientación de época medieval), Matute nos cuenta la historia de Aranmanoth, hijo natural del Señor de Lines y de un hada del agua, que recibe un encargo que contiene la semilla de la pérdida de su inocencia: proteger y custodiar a la mujer de su padre, una niña como él. Entre ellos fragua una amistad, camaradería más bien, que no es sino el trasunto de todos los cuentos que en el mundo han sido: el cambio, la pérdida de referentes para una infancia atrapada en un mundo adulto -violento y corruptor- que no está hecho a su medida y al cual acabarán enfrentándose tarde o temprano.Y de ahí deriva la hermosura de este cuento. Orso, señor de Lines, pierde la inocencia conforme se va haciendo adulto y participa en las campañas bélicas del Conde al cual debe vasallaje, en un proceso de envilecimiento que incluso se traduce en la pérdida de sus agraciadas facciones. La madre de Aranmanoth, la más joven de las hadas del bosque, cae en desgracia ante su especie por culpa de los amores prohibidos con un ser humano. Windumanoth, Mes de las Vendimias, ha perdido el Sur, la cualidad que la distinguía de los rudos moradores de su nuevo hogar, y se encuentra sola en el mundo, sin otra compañía que Aranmanoth, Mes de las Espigas, que no es ni humano ni otra cosa, pero a quien la edad y el devenir inexorable de los acontecimientos obligan a acercarse a su condición menos favorecedora: la de ser humano. Aranmanoth y Windumanoth huyen del mundo adulto y frío buscando el Sur, el mítico Sur que simboliza la infancia perdida y el calor y el sol. En el camino perderán las ilusiones y adquirirán el conocimiento de un hecho: el Sur es una condición, no un lugar. Un paisaje interior inmune al externo.Amarga y hermosa, Aranmanoth pudiera parecer un inocente cuentito en comparación con la más ambiciosa Olvidado rey Gudú o la decididamente pretenciosa La torre vigía, pero no hace sino plasmar con más crudeza que en ninguna de las obras de Ana María Matute el eterno conflicto entre los deseos y la realidad, entre la voluntad y la renuncia. Obra menor si se quiere, pero no por ello menos recomendable, nos devuelve el placer por la lectura de los cuentos infantiles y al mismo tiempo se erige en uno de los libros fantásticos españoles más bonitos de los últimos años. Plenamente recomendable.

Спустя 20 лет после убийства брата, молодой человек приезжает на место его гибели. Он узнает о любовном романе брата и профессора Веденмеера. И в поисках убийцы решается на путешествие в Израиль, где обезумевший от горя ученый ждет смерти, как избавления."Arboretum" Марина Козлова написала в 1994 году. Впервые повесть была напечатана в литературно-публицистическом альманахе «РИСК» Дмитрия Кузьмина(1995). Позже — в литературном сборнике "Антология странного рассказа" (Донецк, 1998). Это издание принимало участие в книжной ярмарке во Франкфурте-на-Майне.В 2001 году «Арборетум» вышел отдельной книгой на итальянском языке. Переводчик — Паоло Гальвани, издательство «Stampalternativa» (Италия). И только в 2005 году состоялось полное русское издание.

A new world opens up to Sam when, fresh from a breakup, he discovers a XXX peepshow on the outskirts of town. More than a mere venue for closeted men to meet for anonymous sex, it’s an underground subculture populated by regular players, and marked by innumerable coded rules and customs.A welcome diversion from his dead-end job and the compulsive cyberstalking of the cop who broke his heart, Sam returns to the arcade again and again. When the bizarre setting triggers reflections on his own history and theories, he contemplates his anxious, religious upbringing in small-town Texas, the frightening overlap between horror movies and his love life, and the false expectations created by multiple childhood viewings of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Then, of course, there is the subject of sex.As his connection to the place strengthens, and his actions both outside and within the peepshow escalate, Sam wavers between dismissing the arcade as a frivolous pastime and accepting it as the most meaningful place in his life. Arcade is a relentlessly candid and graphic account of one man’s attempt to square immutable desire with a carefully constructed self-image on the brink.

Victor, an eighty-year-old multimillionaire, surveys his empire from the remoteness of his cloud-capped penthouse. Expensively insulated from the outside world, he nonetheless finds that memories of his impoverished childhood will not be kept so easily at bay. Focusing on the one area of vitality and chaos that remains in the streets below him, he formulates a plan to leave a mark on the city — one as indelible and disruptive as the mark the city left on him.'A deeply satisfying read, in which each well-turned phrase resounds in every finely tuned sentence' "Mail on Sunday"'Presents his heavily politicised vision at its most ambitious and also at its most Ballard-like' "Irish Times"'One of the most beautifully written books in years' " Sunday Telegraph"

In the fields and forests of western New York State in the late 1960s, several dozen idealists set out to live off the land, founding what becomes a famous commune centered on the grounds of a decaying mansion called Arcadia House. Arcadia follows this lyrical, rollicking, tragic, and exquisite utopian dream from its hopeful start through its heyday and after. The story is told from the point of view of Bit, a fascinating character and the first child born in Arcadia.

Winner of the National Book Award for her collection of stories Ship Fever, Andrea Barrett has become one of our most admired and beloved writers. In this magnificent new book, she unfolds five pivotal moments in the lives of her characters and in the history of knowledge.During the summer of 1908, twelve-year-old Constantine Boyd is witness to an explosion of home-spun investigation — from experiments with cave-dwelling fish without eyes to scientifically bred crops to motorized bicycles and the flight of an early aeroplane. In 1920, a popular science writer and young widow tries, immediately after the bloodbath of the First World War, to explain the new theory of relativity to an audience (herself included) desperate to believe in an “ether of space” housing spirits of the dead. Half a century earlier, in 1873, a famous biologist struggles to maintain his sense of the hierarchies of nature as Darwin’s new theory of evolution threatens to make him ridiculous in the eyes of a precocious student. The twentieth-century realms of science and war collide in the last two stories, as developments in genetics and X-ray technology that had once held so much promise fail to protect humans — among them, a young American soldier, Constantine Boyd, sent to Archangel, Russia, in 1919—from the failures of governments and from the brutality of war.In these brilliant fictions rich with fact, Barrett explores the thrill and sense of loss that come with scientific progress and the personal passions and impersonal politics that shape all human knowledge.

In a mediation on the wisdom of the Vedas, Roberto Calasso brings ritual and sacrifice to bear on the modern world.In this revelatory volume, Roberto Calasso, whom The Paris Review has called “a literary institution,” explores the ancient texts known as the Vedas. Little is known about the Vedic people who lived more than three thousand years ago in northern India: they left behind almost no objects, images, or ruins. They created no empires. Even the hallucinogenic plant the soma, which appears at the center of some of their rituals, has not been identified with any certainty. Only a “Parthenon of words” remains: verses and formulations suggesting a daring understanding of life.“If the Vedic people had been asked why they did not build cities,” writes Calasso, “they could have replied: we did not seek power, but rapture.” This is the ardor of the Vedic world, a burning intensity that is always present, both in the mind and in the cosmos.With his signature erudition and profound sense of the past, Calasso explores the enigmatic web of ritual and myth that defines the Vedas. Often at odds with modern thought, these texts illuminate the nature of consciousness more than today’s neuroscientists have been able to do. Following the “hundred paths” of the Śatapatha Brāhmaņa, an impressive exegesis of Vedic ritual, Ardor indicates that it may be possible to reach what is closest by passing through that which is most remote, as “the whole of Vedic India was an attempt to think further.”

En el otoño de 1979, un joven que sueña con ser escritor se incorpora por reclutamiento obligatorio al Ejército Español. Su destino es el País Vasco. Su viaje, que atraviesa la península de sur a norte, es el preludio de una pesadilla. En las paredes de los cuarteles estaban todavía los retratos de Franco y su mensaje póstumo. Es una historia biográfica donde el autor nos cuenta cómo fue su servicio militar.

Handler proves the adage that just because one can, doesn't mean one should. This applies to both her role as a writer and a narrator. In this disjointed collection of memories and experiences, even her overenthusiastic voice cannot compensate for the irrelevance and frivolousness that is this book. Her anecdotes cover a range of topics from sex to sibling rivalry to parental humiliation, all showcasing how smart and witty she can be-in hindsight. Whether rambling about how she's freaked out by red-headed men or bemoaning her arrest and short stint in prison, her attempts to be funny fall flat and her valley-girl persona wears quickly on listeners. Her lively voice has the potential to do well with audiobooks, but the overall tone and ecstatic energy she emits only emphasizes the inconsequential prose. Listeners might find themselves asking for Vodka to help reach the end of this production.

Consider Ariel Jardell, an adopted twelve-year-old girl driven by jealousy — her mother thinks — and by forces far more bizarre — as you will discern — to a precocious excursion into evil from mere mischief, to malevolence beyond compare...

Haunting as The Turn of the Screw, chilling as The Bad Seed, Ariel spins a complex web of demonic circumstance with a fascinating, terrifying child at its center, giving new definition to the age-old conflict of good and evil, sane and insane.

Cuando Catalina conoce al general Andrés Asensio, todavía es una muchacha que lo ignora todo de la vida. Él, en cambio, es candidato a Gobernador del Estado de Puebla, y sabe muy bien cuáles son sus objetivos de cacique. A las pocas semanas se casan. Pero Catalina, mujer apasionada e imaginativa, descubre muy pronto que no puede aceptar el modo de vida que le impone la nueva situación y no acepta vivir sin amor.